Kid Icarus: Uprising
by TheBrassyLassy
Summary: Pit doesn't know who he is. He's a high school freshman, servant of a selfish goddess, protector of mankind, but he still feels lost. Then, one day, the Underworld army invades, and his life changes forever. Fighting in a centuries-old struggle, he can do only two things: fight monsters and hold on to what he values most. Once he finds out what those are, anyway. Hiatus until Feb.
1. A New Project

**I just ushered in the New Year by writing fanfiction when I should be asleep. 2020 is off to a great start, fellers. **

**But you didn't come here to listen to me ramble! So, this story is a modern retelling of Kid Icarus: Uprising, which 1 person showed interest in me writing so I took that as a go-ahead. It is _not _a novelization of the game or anything similar(unfortunately no 4th wall breaking). While some events and most characters are from the game, many are original. Also, most characters' personalities have been changed, for character arcs. But they'll probably be back to normal at the end of the story, maybe. This story also completely disregards the original Kid Icarus game, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, and all established Kid Icarus lore. **

**If all that stuff above didn't turn you away, know that this story will contain: angst, fluff, humor, worldbuilding, character development, a smol angel attempting to find his place in the world, OCs, out of character behavior, maybe a bit of whump, but most of all, family.**

**Still here? Cool. **

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"That should about do it," A young, brunette angel said to himself, staring in a full-length mirror. He was in a small marble room void of anything, save for the mirror, a dresser, and a pile of blankets on the floor. "Whadda you think, Palutena?"

"Lady _Palutena_," A feminine voice snapped, though there was no woman to be seen. "_And you look fine, I guess. Just make sure not to tell anyone who you really are_."

"Aye-aye," The angel said, looking himself over one final time. He was wearing a loose white hoodie over a grey shirt, baggy jeans, and tennis shoes. His fluffy brown hair was as unkempt and wild as ever and his warm-beige skin was unusually clean. He wore a thin, gold chain around his neck and under his hoodie, which was how Lady Palutena communicated with him.

Palutena- _Lady _Palutena was the goddess of light, protector of humanity, and also Pit's boss. He'd come to her, homeless and alone, a little over a year ago. Whether it was pity or need that made her do it, the goddess decided to hire the boy, as a messenger, servant, and captain of her (rather useless) army. He didn't get paid, but he did get room and board, so it was alright.

The angel's name was Pit. He was 264, which was quite young for an angel, and couldn't fly. The reason for that was a bit of a mystery to him, but he was fairly certain it had to do with the reason that there were no other angels. Either way, he didn't remember and Lady Palutena refused to speak of it.

Turning away from the mirror, Pit grabbed a white-and-gold backpack, filled with notebooks and other stationery items. He ran over to a window and threw it open, taking a moment to enjoy the cold, fresh morning air. Then, without any hesitation, he threw himself out of it, free-falling down towards the Overworld.

"_Remember, you aren't going for fun_," Palutena told him. "_You're to study and observe the young humans. Got_ it?"

"Yep!" Pit cried over the howling wind. "And the school's called-"

"_Seaside Heights, I _know," The goddess interrupted. "_I'm not stupid- quite the contrary, in fact. I even got a job as a librarian in the same town_."

Then, in a flurry of light and wind, the world around Pit shifted. He was no longer surrounded by crisp, endless blue, but about 5 feet from ramming into a sidewalk. An unseen force pulled him back, then dropped him on his feet.

"Thanks," The boy said, feeling his wings disappear. "So, should I find the library after school?"

"_Yes, but act like we don't know each other, alright? And don't forget- you're not here for fun._"

"I got it, I got it," Pit said dismissively, looking around. There were so many _people_. All types, too: tall, short, light-skinned, dark-skinned, social, alone, and everything in between. And while Pit was no expert on human ages, he guessed that the oldest ones couldn't have been over 18.

They were all mingling in front of a massive, 3-story school, slowly trickling inside. Some were chatting, some comparing schedules, and some just seemed intent on getting inside. The school itself had a beautiful courtyard, the plants perfectly trimmed and the flowers bright and tall.

"Hey," A voice behind him made the angel whirl around to see a human girl, maybe 14, standing behind him. "I don't recognize you from middle school. Are you new here?"

The first thing Pit noticed about the girl was that she was taller than him. Then, that she had fair skin dotted with freckles, curly light orange hair, and grey eyes.

"I, uh, yeah," The angel said nervously. He hadn't spoken to humans in a while. But it was just like talking to Centurians, right?"I just moved here, actually."

"From where?" She pried.

Pit knew of very few human countries. Desperately thinking, he ended up going with, "Japan."

The girl looked him over carefully, her sharp eyes making Pit anxious.

"You do look kinda Japanese," She said. "But you speak perfect English and you have blue eyes. Are you half European? I'd guess you are."

"...yes?"

After another moment of staring at him, the girl stuck out her hand to shake.

"I'm Anemoa Aurai," She said. "What's your name?"

Cautiously shaking her hand, the boy replied, " I'm Pit. Nice to meet you."

"Strange name, but I guess I don't have much room to talk," Anemoa nodded. "Good to meet you, too."

A sudden and loud _ding-ding _nearly gave Pit a heart attack, although all the humans seemed unfazed by it.

"That's the bell," Anemoa said, walking towards the school. "Welp, I'll see you around, Pit."

Seeing everyone else head inside, Pit figured he should do the same. As he walked, he dug his schedule out of his bag and looked it over. It was written distinctly in Palutena's lettering, which was rather surprising. She rarely ever did things herself, especially for him.

_Period 1- Literature, room 210_

_Period 2- Physics, room 104_

_Period 3- P.E.(elective), room 116_

_Lunch_

_Period 4- Geometry, room 320_

_Period 5- Spanish(elective), room 218_

_Period 6- World history, room 311_

"Alright," he said. "Literature, eh? Good thing I brought my copy of '_The Iliad_' with me."

After getting lost several times, he arrived at the right class just as the second bell rang, sliding into the only empty seat, next to a short, blonde-haired girl.

"Hello, class," A middle-aged woman said in the flattest voice Pit had ever heard. "Welcome to your first day of high school."

After 30 minutes of listening to the woman- Mrs. Hubbard- drone on about the importance of literature and reading skills, she passed out packets of paper she called "the syllabus". When Pit got his, he could only stare at it in confusion. It was impossible to read, just a mess of random squiggles.

_Lady Palutena_, he mentally called. _Why can't I read this? What should I do?_

"_It's in English,_" Came his boss's unamused voice. "_I forgot, you can only_ _read Angelic._"

_Well, then...could you translate it for me? Please?_

"_No_," Lady Palutena said. "_You're in a literature class, figure it out. Besides, it doesn't matter. You're just there to watch everyone _else _read_."

Pit groaned. After thinking for a moment, he leaned over to the blonde girl's desk.

"Can you read this for me?" He whispered.

"Bug off," The girl hissed, emerald eyes blazing from behind her bangs.

Pit winced. "Jeez, I was just asking..."

"Why, are you illiterate or something? Read it yourself."

"I can't," The angel muttered, but the girl heard him. She stared at him, her eyes coming to rest on the gold chain, barely visible around his neck. Something in her eyes changed.

"You know, it's a funny story," She said slowly. "I can't read it either."

"Viridi? Viridi Vill?" The teacher's voice snapped the girl back upright.

"Here!" She yelped. "I'm here."

Mrs. Hubbard looked at her, dully, before turning her gaze back down to a clipboard.

"Pit Y...Ypsos?" She called out next.

"Here," The angel tentatively said, hoping that it was indeed him. Lady Palutena had never discussed giving him a last name. Thankfully, no one else called out "hey, that's me" or anything like that, and Pit decided that Ypsos was probably his fake last name. That made sense; Pit didn't seem like a common human name.

"Psst," Viridi whispered, poking him. He turned and saw her now wearing a pair of cat-eye glasses with a bright green frame, and holding out another pair of glasses to him. "Wear these. You'll be able to read."

Pit doubted that. He couldn't read this because he'd never learned how, not because his eyesight was bad. But, not wanting to be rude, he took the glasses anyway and put them on.

And, much to his surprise, Viridi was right- he _could _read the syllabus now. Shocked, he looked over at Viridi, who was busily reading her syllabus, or at least pretending to be. Still a little confused, Pit decided to do the same. It was mostly stuff he didn't understand, but at least he could read it.

After class, he tried to give the glasses back, but the blonde waved him off and said he needed to keep them. He was almost positive he looked like an idiot in them, with their circular lenses and wire frame, but Pit was grateful nonetheless and asked how she knew his problem- and how she fixed it. Viridi just laughed and walked away, leaving the angel as confused as ever.

Physics class was uneventful, and Pit spent most of it jotting down notes about the people he saw. P.E. looked like it would be a fun class, all about sports and whatnot, and he noticed that Anemoa had that class with him. At lunchtime, Pit sadly realized he didn't bring any food and had no human currency to buy anything, so he just tried to read '_The Iliad_', although it was so loud in the lunchroom that focusing on anything was difficult.

He also had geometry with Viridi, although she avoided his gaze completely, and Spanish and world history both seemed boring. History, he thought, might actually be useful, though. It might give him some much-needed information on the Overworld, which he was so oblivious about.

After school, Pit asked someone where the town's library was, and they were nice enough to give him directions and even draw him a little map. He used it to find his way across the rather small town, to a cozy-looking building with a sign that read '_Seaside Public Library'_.

Pit stepped inside, the smell of old paper and candles immediately filling his nose. He briefly looked around, quickly spotting Lady Palutena. Her green hair was easy to recognize, but she'd disguised everything else about her. Instead of her normal white dress, she wore a minty green t-shirt with a bright yellow sun on it, white shorts, and had her hair in a loose bun. And with his glasses on, Pit could even read the small nametag she had- '_Ms. Palutena_ _Ypsos_'.

Remembering her previous words, Pit went off to the back of the library. He knew he was supposed to be studying the humans, but honestly, Pit was a bit worn-out. Curling up on one of the small couches he found, Pit soon drifted off to sleep.

oOo

"Get up," Someone hissed, accompanied by a hard poke in the ribs.

Blearily blinking his eyes, the angel sat up, momentarily wondering where he was. One look around, though, and he remembered he was in a human library. Palutena was standing in front of him, hands on her hips and a very ticked look on her face.

"What's wrong with you?" She demanded, keeping her voice down. "I told you to _study _humans, and you just fall asleep?!"

"S-sorry," Pit mumbled, sleepily grabbing his bag and standing up. "I didn't sleep much last night- I was just so excited for today!"

Palutena rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever, just hurry up. The library already closed."

Trailing the green-haired goddess like a lost puppy, Pit followed Palutena out of the library and across a few streets, into a large, grassy park with a rather lot of trees, sandalwood and Beech. They went into the grove of trees which grew so thickly together it would be impossible for a grown human to fit between them, although Pit probably could. Then, in a shining flash of light, Palutena transformed into her normal self, long hair flowing down her back and clothed in an intricately embroidered dress. Pit, too, was back to his angelic self, and in a gravity-defying _whoosh_, the two were teleported back up to Angelland and into Palutena's temple.

"Goodnight, Lady Palutena," Pit cried, waving to his boss and she immediately stalked off to her room. She paused for a moment, but said nothing and kept walking. The boy sighed, then turned and scampered off to his own room. He tossed off his overclothes and collapsed on his pile of blankets. In the few seconds before he was out cold, Pit wondered if this was all his life would ever be, just serving an uncaring goddess and trying in vain to gain her approval. No matter. He _would _serve her, and since it kept him fed and off the streets, that was all that really mattered.

Right?

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**That was an exceptionally _boring_(and poorly written) first chapter. Good thing this is fanfiction and not one of my original works, eh? Anyway, I promise it'll get exciting(or at least interesting) in the next chapter. **

**Please review, and have a lovely day! Happy New Year! **


	2. Medusa, Queen of the Underworld

**Yee**

**Also I'm 'bout to scramble both Greek mythology and Kid Icarus lore like they're eggs**

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_I go by many names. Goddess of Darkness, Queen of Sorrows, Harbinger of Doom. These are names I have come to accept and even cherish, in a strange way. I remember a time before I had those titles, though. It all starts will the story of Scyllia, a beautiful goddess, patron deity of secrets and luck, and sister to the goddess of light, Palutena._

_Scyllia lived with her sister, Palutena, in a region of Skyworld called Angelland. The two were...different, to say the least. Palutena was well-liked among the humans for showering them with light and bountiful harvests, while Scyllia was seen as a minor deity, a particularly cruel one at that, if not simply overlooked. Now, to be fair, her reputation was partially earned. As the Goddess of Luck, she'd had to turn away many people hoping to find their fortunes. But it wasn't like she tried to wipe out the human race or anything, unlike a certain nature deity._

_But anyway, the sisters' personalities were quite different, too. While Scyllia was quiet and reserved, and preferred to do things herself, Palutena was outgoing and charming, and was quite lazy. Both were fairly well-liked by the other deities, but more than that, they loved each other._

_One day, a war broke out between two factions of gods: the Upholding powers, led by the wind god Aouros, and the Changing powers, led by the ocean god Poseidon. The Upholding powers wanted to continue to directly affect and interact with humans, just like they had for a millennium, but the Changing powers wanted to move away from that and only discreetly or secretly do things, and even then only when necessary. Due to old alliances and complicated treaties, every single god and goddess was forced to take a side and send their angels off to fight- well, all except for two._

_Scyllia and Palutena's seclusion suddenly seemed a blessing, at least to the former. Palutena, though, was eager to join the Upholding powers. Scyllia begged her sister to keep them neutral, if only for the sake of their angels. She knew and loved each and every one of them and thought of them as her children, and would do anything to keep them safe. But her sister wasn't so attached to them; she said it was part of their job to be willing to die for the sisters, an honor, even. To be fair, she did seem saddened by the idea of subjecting them to the horrors of war, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. Scyllia was sickened._

_Palutena tried to tell her sister that the angels would willingly take up arms for either of them and that they were even happy to do so, but Scyllia would not listen. She rarely ever spoke out against her sister, for the goddess of light was more powerful than she, but that night, she screamed at her sister until her throat was raw and she had no words left._

_But it was all futile. Palutena sided with Aouros the very next morning, while Scyllia slept. When she woke and saw that her beloved angels had been sent off to senselessly slaughter and be slaughtered, she was furious. In an act of thoughtless revenge, she struck down the largest human city on the Overworld, obliterating it. There was nothing left, no survivors, no rubble- just a wide, lifeless stretch of barren land. _

_Words cannot describe Palutena's fury. At that moment, she truly wished to kill her sister, who'd just murdered millions of innocent humans. Scyllia would always remember the words her sister screamed at her: "_I hate you! _You cruel, heartless monster, _I hate you! _Why don't I give you a body to match your heart_?!_" __Calling upon the darker side of her powers, the goddess of light used them to strike her sister and turned her into a hideous beast. Snakes sprouted from her once-fair hair, which turned a revolting shade of black-ish green. Her golden and sun-kissed skin turned a sickly shade of pale grey, and her eyes became snake-like and bright yellow. A dark, twisting, spiraling tattoo scourged its way over her left eye, her teeth became fangs, but worst of all, she was stripped of her powers, position, name, and her sister's love. She gave her a new, twisted name: Medusa, which meant "traitor" in an ancient language._

_Medusa was deemed unfit to co-rule Angelland and banished to the Underworld, doomed stay there until the end of days. There, she met Hades, King of the Underworld. He offered her power and purpose if she joined him. He said he wanted to unite all the gods together, so there would be no more wars and they could all live together in peace. Foolishly, Medusa believed him and accepted his offer, becoming the goddess of darkness and Queen of the Underworld. Hades didn't make good on his promise, of course. He antagonized the gods and told them Medusa had joined him and rejected all of them. While angry and sad, Palutena did not seem surprised. _

_Knowing her sister would never accept her again, Medusa became depressed and hopeless. For nearly a century, she wallowed in self-hatred and guilt, all the while maddened that she never found out what became of her angels. One day, though, Thanatos- god of death- told her that they'd all been wiped out in what was now called the Angel War. Every single angel, young and old, male and female, had met their demise in that accursed war. Medusa could do nothing but weep when she heard._

_Her sorrow quickly morphed into rage at her sister, who had sent their angels off to die. In her fury, Medusa swore to one day make her sister feel the pain and loss that she did. With the knowledge that Palutena could never see her as a sister again, the goddess of darkness decided to accept who she'd become. She would have her revenge some day. _

_I used to be called Scyllia, but now I am Medusa. _

Medusa sighed and set down her quill, looking over her journal. Pandora had convinced her to start one, for some reason. It was supposed to be good for mental health or something of that nature. But reliving her banishment and the news that her beloved angels had all died was something she never liked doing.

Well, not _all _her angels had died, as Medusa had recently found out. One angel had survived, the young angel Pit, who now served Palutena. It hurt her heart to watch as her sister was unnecessarily harsh and snippy with the boy, who always tried his best and served Palutena with unflinching loyalty. Pit, who was just a toddler at the time, had been gravely injured in the Angel War and crippled his wings. The poor child couldn't fly because of it and relied on Palutena's magic to soar through the skies, although it could only be done in short bursts, or else his wings would catch fire.

"You know, my friend," Medusa said, patting one of the heads of her two-headed dog, Twinbellows. "I would do anything to be able to bring that boy down here, to live with me. I never had children, but I miss angels terribly, and Palutena is so cruel to him."

Twinbellows grunted and looked up at her, his four eyes strikingly intelligent for an animal. Medusa frowned a bit.

"You know I can't leave the Underworld. And anyway, I never wish to see _Palutena_ again," She spat out the name bitterly. "Not to mention she'd never agree to that. She uses Pit to do all her dirty work for her."

Her dog woofed softly and Medusa looked at him.

"Oh, I don't know..." She said. "What if you get hurt? I hear Pit's a formidable fighter."

Twinbellows growled and stood up, nearly as tall as the 5-feet-and-9-inches tall goddess. She sighed again, petting his side.

"Alright, then," She whispered. "Good luck, and be careful, my friend."

oOo

Pit had to admit, for an assignment that wasn't supposed to be fun, he quite enjoyed human school. So far, he'd made 13 friends and intended to be friends with everyone in the school by the time this 4-year research project was over. Of course, he still took diligent notes on everyone's behavior, but he was also trying his hardest on all the schoolwork the teachers assigned. Literature was easy, thanks to Viridi's glasses, but he didn't quite understand anything else.

Besides physical education, anyway. That had to be his favorite class, partially because it was fun and partially because he was good at it. One of his favorite human sports was dodgeball; it was like a friendlier version of his duels with the occasional monster.

One day, about a month after he'd first started human school, Pit had just walked out of the boy's locker room, now dressed in the school's P.E. uniform, a blue shirt and darker blue shorts. He looked around for Anemoa, but saw that someone else was talking to her- Dylan Brooks, the only student who could come close to rivaling Pit in the 1-mile run.

"Leave me alone," He heard the curly-haired girl say, trying to walk away, but Dylan grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, now," He said. "Everyone will be there, it'll be fun. Won't you come?"

"No," Anemoa said forcefully. "I'm not going to your stupid party!"

"You-"

"Hey," Pit cut the taller boy off, walking up next to them. "I don't think she wants to go, Dylan."

"Back off, pipsqueak," He shot back. "This isn't your business."

"Let go of her wrist," Pit said, trying to appear taller. He wished he had his wings at that time- they usually helped intimidate people. "She doesn't want to go to your party."

Dylan glowered and released Anemoa's wrist, then turned and loomed over Pit.

"Who do you think you are?" He demanded, poking the angel in the chest. "Some scrawny kid from Japan? Like I'd take orders from you; I could throw you with one arm!"

Pit didn't point out that he technically_ had _taken an order from him. He also didn't say that he could throw Dylan across the room with ease. Instead he just smiled at him and tried to step towards Anemoa, but Dylan was in the way.

"Please move over," The brunette asked, his patience beginning to wear off.

Dylan leaned over, his face an inch from Pit's. "No."

"Leave him alone," Anemoa said wearily, although Pit wasn't quite sure who she was speaking to.

With a final glare, Dylan did as she said and stalked off, muttering to himself.

"Are you alright, Anemoa?" Pit asked the girl, walking over to her. She nodded.

"Yeah, thanks to you. But call me Windy- all my friends do."

Pit smiled. Another friend! "Alright, Windy."

They played dodgeball that day. As usual, Dylan and Pit were the last ones in the game, standing on opposite sides of the gym. While Pit wasn't too fond of Dylan, he had to admit, he was very swift and strong, for a human boy. But the angel still won- he always did.

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**I feel like I made Medusa seem like she's...not evil. But she is. She's very evil. **


	3. Twinbellows

**Today's program is brought to you by a salty lass.**

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**FluffyKitten- Thank you! :)**

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"I'm telling you, Lady Palutena, it's shocking how nice these humans are! For all the wars they start and how greedy they are, individual people seem to be nothing but kind! Just yesterday, my friend Ryatt gave me half his lunch because I didn't have one. And today-"

"_Yeah, I get the point_," Palutena cut the essentric boy off. "_The humans at this library are actually rather polite, too. Most of them, anyway._"

Pit smiled without thinking, the motion not really meaning anything anymore. He supposed he should be happy- he was walking to the library from school on a bright, sunny day. He was a little sore from yesterday's training, but for the most part, he felt fine, just...empty. Unfulfilled.

A sudden scream from around the corner snapped Pit from his thoughts and he, without thinking, ran towards it. The street was crowded, as if there had been something interesting, but now all the people were screaming and fleeing in terror.

"It's a mutated dog!" Some lady shrieked. "Call the police!"

Dashing forward and pushing his way through the thinning crowd, Pit soon saw what they were so scared of. A massive- and he meant _unnaturally giant_\- dog was growling and snapping, dagger-like teeth glistening in the sun. That wasn't the most alarming part, though. The beast had 2 heads, smoke curling from their nostrils, eyes that held more intelligence than an animal's should. Its fur was a deep red, mottled with black and yellow, giving it the apperance that it was on fire.

The second it laid its eyes on Pit, the dog gave a deep, rattling roar and charged at the boy, closing one of its sets jaws around him before the angel could react before sprinting in the other direction. Pit gave a cry of fear and surprise, although he noticed that the dog had taken great care not to hurt him. Strange, but he wanted to be released nonetheless.

"Hey, hey, drop it!" He cried, wondering if the beast could even understand him. "Drop it, boy, come on!"

"_That won't work_," Came his goddess's mocking laugh. "_It's not some pet, you cabbage, it's _Twinbellows. _The watchdog of the Underworld?_"

"I'm desperate!" Pit yelled, struggling to free himself. "Some help would be _greatly _appreciated!"

In a bright flash of light, Pit's human clothes, backpack, and gold necklace disappeared, replaced by his chiton, flightless wings, and golden laurel. In his hands, free of the beast's maws, his Palutena Bow materialized.

"Sorry, doggy," He said, before firing a light arrow at Twinbellows' paw. It hit with pinpoint accuracy, making the monster stumbled and release the angel. He flew a few feet forward, before hitting the ground and rolling back to his feet.

"Why are you here?!" He demanded as the dog got to its feet. "What do you want?!"

Twinbellows staggered to its paws with a pained growl, then set its sights on Pit and roared again. But instead of charging, it took a deep breath of air, then both its jaws seemed to unhinge and open impossibly wide.

"Whoa," He cried, stepping back. "I know I'm jaw-dropping, but that's a little extreme!"

Two jets of fire flew from both of the dog's mouths, forcing Pit to leap to the side. In a fluid, practiced move, he nocked an arrow, aimed, and let it fly, right into the beast's shoulder, bulging with muscle. It barked in pain, nearly collapsing as its shoulder and paw burned.

"I don't wanna hurt you," The angel said. "But you have to go away. You can't threaten these innocent people."

Twinbellows growled, eyes narrowing as it seemed to weigh its options.

"_Just send it back to the Underworld yourself_," Palutena said.

"And how would I go about doing that, exactly?" The angel asked, his eyes never leaving the monster-dog.

The goddess sighed and Pit could practically see her rolling her eyes. "_The Pearls of Wisdom, duh. In your pocket? Just throw one at it, or are you too incompetent to do even that_?"

Frowning, the boy felt around his pockets until he found a small drawstring pouch. He fished out a single, glistening pearl, a pale blue in color, and admired it for a moment before beaming it at the dog's paws. The pearl shattered on the ground in front of it, releasing a blue smoke that seemed to swallow the beast, roaring in confusion. The smoke diminished quickly, leaving no trace of the pearl of Twinbellows.

"_Well, that was quite rude of you_," Pit heard an unfamiliar, feminine voice say. "_Twinbellows wasn't hurting anyone, you_ _know_."

"_Medusa_," Palutena seethed, her voice more hateful than Pit had ever heard it before. "_You've got a lot of nerve sending you pet to the Overworld_."

"You said Twinbellows wasn't a pet-"

"_Shut up_!"

"_Oh, calm down, _sister," Medusa said. "_I came to warn you_."

Palutena let out a bark of laughter. "_Warn me_? _Of what_?"

"_Yourself. Palutena, if you keep living life the way you are, you'll end up regretting it. Your mistaken in your ways, far more so than you realize._"

"_Who are you to tell me I'm mistaken_?" The goddess of light demanded. "_You're a traitor and a liar, nothing more_!"

"_And you are a hypocrite! You're no better than me, you lazy slug_!"

Palutena made a strange sound, like a hiss and a gasp, that hurt Pit to hear, even if he didn't like the goddess all that much.

"_You...you...I'm the goddess of light_!" She cried. "_I am the living embodiment of benevolence_!"

"_And quite humble, too, I see,_" Medusa muttered.

"_Shut up_," Palutena snarled. "_Shut up_! _Go back and rot in the Underworld, double-crossing rat_!"

Medusa sighed. "_I'm just trying to help you, Palutena. Situations are more dire than you_ _think_."

"_Is that a threat_?" The green-haired goddess nearly growled. "_Because if it is, mark my words: you'll not live long, Medusa, not long at all_."

But Medusa cut her connection without answering. Pit winced as Palutena cried out in frusteration.

"_Just get to the library_," She yelled, transforming Pit back into a human-looking student. "_I'll figure something out_ _later_."

Too scared to argue, Pit just did as she said and booked it down the street, shuddering as he heard police sirens in the distance, undoubtedly looking for Twinbellows.

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**My writing's getting worse with each chapter. I'll need to start actually taking my time on these and not just rushing to get these out everyday. I'm a slow writer...**

**Have a great day! Reviews are appreciated tremendously! **


	4. The Cleansing of Gaol

**I put a poll on my profile, please check it out & vote.**

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Sulking in her world of despair and shadows, Medusa had a lot of time on her hands. It was actually quite rare that Hades needed her for anything and she had surprisingly few duties as goddess of darkness, leaving the cursed woman with hours upon hours of free time. She was, technically, allowed to leave Hades' castle, but it had been built on a craggy, towering mountaintop, which made getting down a hassle. So, almost all of her time was spent wandering the practically desolate castle halls, haunting them like a ghost.

And after Twinbellows' recent failure, Medusa used all of this spare time to conjure up a plan, with the goal of convincing Palutena of her flaws, or just kidnapping Pit. Either, she supposed, would do, but she'd quite like to have Pit as her son. He was such a sweet boy, with a heart of pure gold.

Hatching up a plan wasn't hard for Medusa- she'd grown up with the wise(and wise-cracking) Palutena as a sister. What_ would _be hard, she knew, was working up the nerve to actually pull it off. She had always been a rather weak deity and when she'd been banished, her power decreased drastically, and Hades, the lying rat he was, did nothing to fix that.

For that reason, her plan entailed very little fighting, opting instead for disguise and espionage, which she was actually quite experienced in.

In her Victorian-esque room, Medusa sat in front of her dark wooden vanity, an assortment of beauty products spread out on it. The grey-skinned woman had enchanted all of them long ago, and they now helped channel her ever-weakening magic as she worked to make herself look somewhat human.

"Hey, Apophis, work with me," She exhorted to the gold snake on her head. Unlike the other ones, Apophis did more than reflect her emotions and intimidate people. He had his own spunky little spirit and was rather defiant, although the reason was lost of Medusa. Finally, though, she managed to mask the unruly serpent as a lock of gold hair, with the help of her magic ebony comb. The lock stood out distinctly from the rest of her hair, which was disguised as a dark, dark green, so dark it was nearly impossible to tell it wasn't black.

Her eyes were trickier, but after concentrating hard enough, they too became a deep emerald shade, although she couldn't change her vertical, oblong pupils. She couldn't alter the ashy color of her cured skin, either, but when she looked in her mirror, Medusa though she almost looked...normal. Like she hadn't been cursed for leveling a city. Like she might still have a sister, somewhere, who loved and accepted her.

But looks were deceiving and her magic wouldn't last forever. Medusa quickly changed into a loose blouse and a long skirt, hoping they would pass as human clothes. Then, straining to use even more magic, Medusa teleported herself to the Overworld, something she never thought she'd be able to do. It normally wouldn't be possible for her, with her dwindling powers, but Pit had unknowingly weakened the barrier when he'd used the Pearl of Wisdom to send Twinbellows back.

There was so much about the worlds that boy didn't know. One day, Medusa vowed, she'd teach him.

oOo

Once she'd gotten to the Overworld, it took Medusa a good 10 minutes to collect herself and stop looking at the sun, the sky, the ocean, plants, and animals. They were just _so beautiful _and the goddess had thought she'd never get to see them again. However, she had a job to do, and she was on a time crunch.

Quickly setting off, Medusa navigated the busy streets of the human town, the same one both Pit and Palutena spent the day in. Well, Palutena only spent some of the day there because she had other duties. But since she wasn't sure where her sister was, Medusa had put up a magic shield around herself to keep Palutena from detecting her, although it wouldn't last long.

Eventually, she reached her destination: Seaside Heights, the town's high school. Secondary school? Medusa wasn't entirely sure what the humans called it, but it really didn't matter, either. Holding her head up, the goddess stepped into the school's office.

oOo

"She wouldn't dare..." A green-haired young woman muttered behind the counter of a dimly-lit library, her blue eyes fixed on a smartphone in her hands. A moment later, her face turned turbulent. "That sly little snake, she did!"

To an onlooker, she probably looked a little strange, but to herself, Palutena's reaction was actually quite mild. She _wanted_ to be screaming in rage, flipping tables and maybe burning a few things, but for the sake of keeping this petty human job, she clenched her jaw until it hurt.

Her sister...well, she _used _to be her sister, but she really wasn't anymore..._Medusa_ had left the Underworld, somehow, and had the audacity to not only waltz into a human town, disguised, but she sauntered on into _this _human town, _right to Pit's school_. Palutena supposed this had to do with the 'warning' Medusa had given her a few days ago, and the goddess of light took this to mean she was correct about Medusa's words being a threat.

Palutena knew Medusa blamed her for the latter's banishment. Logical, seeing as how it was the goddess of light who'd done it, but she had a good reason to. One morning, Medusa just snapped entirely and completely leveled a massive human city. Palutena _felt_ it. She _felt_ each and every one of the human's deaths. She felt the overwhelming fear in their last moments, their agony, their confusion. It torn at the goddess's heart and instantly flooded her eyes with tears, and even to that day, the sounds of the people's screams haunted the goddess. Medusa should have been _grateful _that she'd only been banished. Palutena had wanted to kill her.

And now, ages later, Palutena knew she'd have to actually kill the goddess of darkness. Not personally- she'd send Pit to do it. Pit. That little angel was the only relic of the Angel War and the last living member of his species. After the horrible carnage that the war had caused, all the gods agreed to stop creating angels, as it seemed that their very existence led to wars being fought, because they acted as armies. Of course, the gods still warred, but Palutena was the only one with an angel. But she resented him. Not for anything that was remotely his fault, even Palutena knew, but because he served as a living reminder of the goddess's biggest failure. She _never_ should have joined the Angel War...Medusa had even warned her against it.

But all of that was in the past. Medusa's current threat was not, and Palutena had humanity to protect.

oOo

"Hey, kid," A gruff voice from behind Pit made him turn around. A tall, extremely muscular man with very tanned skin and quite a few tattoos, dressed in exercise clothes, stood a few feet behind him, an unreadable expression on his face. "What're you doing here so late?"

Truthfully, the angel was looking for Medusa, who'd apparently gotten a job at his school as a night janitor, although Pit thought that seemed unlikely. Obviously, he couldn't say that, so he made up a quick and cruddy lie: "I'm waiting for a ride home."

"Why not just walk?"

"We're, uh, going out of town tonight," Pit said, internally cringing with every word of the lie. "Who're you?"

"Name's Magnus," The man told him. "The wrestling coach."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Pit," The angel smiled a bit, although this Magnus fellow didn't return the expression. In fact, he seemed to simply ignore Pit for a while, just leaning against the wall and staring at the floor. Awkwardly, Pit made a move to leave after a few minutes.

"Y'know," Magnus said suddenly, stopping the boy. "Life's funny. One day you can feel like the king of the world and the very next you're struggling just to survive."

"Oh, I know," Pit replied without thinking. He winced, wondering how the heck he'd explain that, but Magnus didn't seem fazed at all.

"I'm not sure why I'm telling you this," The man continued. "I guess it's just 'cause I wish somebody had told me that when I was your age."

That was something Pit wasn't used to yet. Everyone referred to him as if he was just 14, not 264, centuries older than even Mrs. MacLeer, the oldest human Pit had ever seen.

"I...thank you," Pit said. "I know how unpredictable life can be."

Magnus gazed at his wearily. "I'm not talkin' about pop quizzes, kid."

"Me neither."

Pit could see the pain behind Magnus's eyes. He wanted to know the man's story but he was wiser than to ask, so he instead just turned at walked down the hallway like he'd intended to. Just as he reached the stairs to the school's second story, a shout caught his attention. Pivoting around as the shouts continued, the angel dashed down the hallway and skidded around the corner to where Magnus was. The burly man was still there, but so was someone else, who he was fighting: a young woman, taller than Pit but shorter than Magnus, a metal breastplate and armored skirt sitting over her long-sleeve white shirt and black leggings. Her dirty-blonde hair was cut short, choppily, and she held a long spear in her hands that glowed in an ominous reddish light.

"Lady Palutena," Pit cried. "I think I found her!"

"_That's not_ _Medusa_," The goddess said. "_It must be one of her henchmen- er, henchwomen- it doesn't matter_! _Just subdue her before she hurts the_ _human_."

Pit flashed back into an angel and quickly nocked an arrow, ready to fire.

"No!" Magnus yelled, having seen the boy. "Don't kill her!"

But while he was distracted, the woman punched Magnus in the gut before kicking him down and raising her spear for the kill. A jolt of fear ran through Pit as he made the split-second decision to fire and save the man's life.

The arrow, being made of light and magic, pierced straight through the woman's armor, burying itself in her back. But she didn't even cry out. The warrior just turned around and stared at Pit with pure-black, soulless eyes that gave the boy shivers.

"Who are you?" He asked, hoping his voice didn't betray his fear. "Do you work for Medusa?"

"I am Gaol," She said, raising her spear. Pit stepped back.

"_She's been corrupted by Medusa's magic_," Palutena told him.

"How do I undo that?" The angel asked, dodging as Gaol hurled the spear at him.

"_I don't_ _know_!" The goddess sounded exasperated.

Ducking and weaving between a flurry of lightning-fast attacks, Pit barely heard the answer, not that it helped him. He took an opening and hit the woman with an uppercut to the chin, apologizing as he did so.

Gaol staggered backwards, but Magnus grabbed her from behind and put her in an armbar, the woman's head cracking against the linoleum floor as they fell. Pit leaped backwards to avoid them, flapping his useless wings in an unconscious attempt to gain altitude.

"What happened to you?!" Magnus demanded. "Where have you been, Gaol?!"

"What's it to you?!" The young woman snarled, her voice demonic and far too deep for any human, let alone a girl.

"You're my best friend!" The man shouted. "You're my _only _friend!"

It was a little strange to see a man in his mid-thirties yelling that at a girl who couldn't have been older than 22, but Pit realized that the man was lonely. He could hear it in Magnus's voice.

Gaol's struggles weakened for a moment. "You...really?"

"Yes," Magnus said. "And I want to know what's happened to you."

_"I found out how to cleanse her_," Palutena said, grabbing Pit's attention. "_I need to shower her in holy light. The magic Medusa used was weak, so that should break_ _it_."

A blast of radiant light suddenly shone down on the woman, who froze instantly. The black covering her eyes crumbled away, revealing their true color, green. Gaol went limp and Magnus released her, then knelt beside her head.

"Gaol…?" He whispered. Pit flinched at how tentative and afraid he sounded; he hadn't ever heard a man sound so fearful before.

The young lady blinked a few times, then sat up, holding her head. "Where...am I?"

Pit smiled as they embraced, at the look of relief and joy on Magnus's face. He must have been scared of losing her, Pit thought. Maybe he'd lost someone else, before.

As the boy turned to walk up to the roof, where it would be easiest for Lady Palutena to bring him back to Angelland, Magnus's voice stopped him once more.

"Hey, Angelface," He called. Pit turned around. "Thanks. You're name's Pit, isn't it? You weren't really waiting for a ride home, huh? You were waiting for Gaol to come, so you could help her."

That wasn't true, really, but Pit saw no reason to deny it. He'd likely never see Magnus again, so the angel just smiled, before whirling around and dashing towards the stairs.

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**Bad writing, but slightly better, I think. Anyway, please vote in that poll on me profile. **

**Have a good day, and please review!**


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